Flood update: Father of Longmont volleyball coach Stetson missing

Former Lyons basketball coach last seen early Thursday in Lyons

Holli Stetson knows her dad, and so she has a pretty good idea what happened in the middle of a chaotic, frightening night in Lyons.

Her father, former Lyons basketball coach Gerry Boland, saw that the roads were in fine shape despite the evacuation order issued early Thursday at about 2:30 a.m. So, Stetson figures her father simply turned around, went home, and probably went back to bed.

In one of countless nightmares unfolding across flood-ravaged Boulder County, the moment of that decision is the last time anyone from Stetson's family has heard from Boland.

Stetson, the head coach of the Class 4A No. 3-ranked Longmont volleyball team, has spent the past two days in a constant state of worry and alarm with her family. Her mother, Cheron Boland, was evacuated safely and reached Stetson's home Friday morning.

"My 80-year old dad, I know his logic was, 'It's not that bad, I'm going home,'" Stetson said. "At this point we're not sure he even heeded the evacuation warning. That's the last time we heard from him. We're assuming he went home, went back to bed, and when he woke up he couldn't get out. We've notified the Colorado Task Force and every agency that we could. I'm just trying to keep the faith that he's still OK in there."

Gerry Boland and his wife left the family home -- located in North St. Vrain Canyon just off Highway 36 about a mile north of Lyons -- when the evacuation order was issued in the middle of the night. They took separate cars, with Cheron Boland leading the way to the evacuation point at The River Community Church.

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At some point along the way, Gerry Boland turned around.

To make matters even more harrowing for Stetson's family, on Thursday morning her mother decided to drive back through town to try and check on her husband and gather supplies. Cheron Boland's car instead stalled in rushing water, and she became one of several dramatic roadside water rescues that have been replayed on 9News.

Cheron Boland was bused out of Lyons safely Friday morning and is resting at Stetson's home in Hygiene.

Stetson was able to see a visual image of the house she grew up in but the angle of the shot, combined with the surrounding foliage, made it impossible to see if her father's truck was in the driveway. What she did see was about two feet of water pressed up against the one-story, ranch-style house.

"We're pretty sure he's in there," Stetson said. "But there's no power. There's no cell service. Where the house is, there's not really any way to get there right now."

Stetson expressed immense gratitude to the outpouring of support from the Longmont High community, as well as the generosity of strangers. At some point during her mother's odyssey she dropped her phone in the water. Yet there were three or four people on the truck that transported Cheron Boland to Longmont who let Boland use her phone to check in with her daughter.

Stetson said every member of her team has checked in, and the Trojans have been busy pitching in around the community. On Friday morning, the Longmont varsity and JV volleyball players got together to donate clothes and canned food to shelters at the Memorial Building and LifeBridge Church.

"It's a blessing that no one on our team has been directly affected by the flood besides Holli," Longmont senior Becca Mau said. "So we're doing what we can to help her and our community."

Gerry Boland spent 32 years at Lyons High School, including 22 years as the Lions' basketball coach.

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